


Breathless

by lyrasin



Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: Kink Meme, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-24
Updated: 2013-09-24
Packaged: 2017-12-27 12:23:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/978829
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lyrasin/pseuds/lyrasin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Raleigh has the hiccups. Chuck finds it annoying and embarks on an epic quest to get rid of Raleigh's hiccups -- but the real solution may be drastically different from what he thinks it is. And much more physical. And strangely enjoyable, too ...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Breathless

**Author's Note:**

> Written to fill a prompt over at the kink meme!

Chuck had always been short-tempered, but Raleigh's constant hiccuping was enough to get on the nerves of any rational person trying to concentrate on anything. And it didn't help that Raleigh seemed to purposely sit close to Chuck and hiccup as loudly as possible just to annoy him. Refusing to let Raleigh get the satisfaction of distracting him, Chuck gritted his teeth and only gripped his pencil tighter.

Another hiccup. A pause. Then another.

"Oh, bloody hell," he muttered under his breath. Throwing his pencil down, he turned to Raleigh with a glare. "Would you stop that?"

Raleigh only grinned. "What?" He leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms leisurely like he had all the time in the world. "I can't exactly--" _Hic!_ "--turn it on and off like a tap. I couldn't stop even--" _Hic!_ "--if I wanted to." And he sure didn't look like he wanted to stop anytime soon.

Chuck threw up his hands in frustration. "I can't work with you constantly making loud noises!"

"They're not that loud," Raleigh muttered mutinously. After a pause, he shrugged and looked back up at Chuck. "Unless you can think of a way--" _Hic!_ "--to get these hiccups to stop, I'm afraid--" _Hic!_ "--you're stuck with them."

It barely took ten seconds for Chuck to get up from his chair and yank Raleigh out of his, dragging them both out the door. He couldn't get a single sheet of paper filled out with Raleigh in the room with him, and besides ... he'd rather not work on forms if he didn't have to. Even helping Raleigh get rid of his hiccups was preferable to sheet after sheet of words and lines to sign, blocks of text and annoyingly tiny print. "We're getting rid of your hiccups," Chuck decided. "Then you're leaving me alone."

Raleigh shrugged, tugging his arm from Chuck's grip. "Whatever you say."

Chuck paced up and down the hall, choosing for once ignore Raleigh's vaguely patronizing tone. "Okay, so, what are ways to get rid of hiccups?"

 _Hic!_ Raleigh shrugged again. "Water?"

"Right. Water." Chuck popped back into the room they had come from. A few moments passed, then he emerged back into the hallway with a bottle of water in hand. He handed it to Raleigh. "Here, drink."

Raleigh took it, making a face at the half-full bottle. "Did you--" _Hic!_ "--already drink from this?"

Chuck rolled his eyes. "I'm not walking all the way to the mess hall to get you a bloody bottle of water. Just drink it. I didn't poison it, I swear."

Still making a face that reminded Chuck of four-year-olds that didn't want to eat their vegetables (the thought brought a rather amusing image to his mind), Raleigh unscrewed the cap, lifted the bottle to his lips, and took a long drink of water. After a moment, he lowered the bottle and capped it, swallowing the water with a thoughtful look on his face. Chuck watched him warily. "Well?"

Raleigh said nothing, only tilted his head as if pondering the meaning of life or some equally philosophical matter. Chuck began to grow impatient. But right as he was about to snap, "Well?" again, Raleigh straightened and -- _Hic!_

Chuck swore under his breath.

"Well, that didn't work!" Raleigh said, stating the obvious. He looked far too pleased with this outcome.

Chuck sighed. "Obviously. Oh -- wait!" He whirled around. "Is there a bed in that room ... ?" He opened the door to the room again and poked his head through, then pulled back out and grabbed Raleigh's arm. "Come in here." He headed through the door, yanking Raleigh after him. As they came to stop, Chuck pointed to the bunk that took up half of the room. "There. Lay down with your head hanging upside down over the edge. I heard drinking water upside down is supposed to help."

Raleigh complied, so willingly and happily that it made Chuck suspicious for a second. Following Raleigh to the bed, he waited until the other pilot got situated, then knelt down next to the lower bunk and raised the bottle of water expectantly. Raleigh shifted around, then put his head back and let it hang over the edge of the bed. His hand reached out for the bottle. Chuck placed it in his hand, then scooted back a little bit.

Again, Raleigh paused and looked at the bottle warily. "Are you sure this--" _Hic!_ "--is safe?"

" _Yes_ ," Chuck said. "Just drink the water."

Reaching his arms over his head, Raleigh dangled the bottle from his fingers, then slowly tilted it toward his open mouth. His hands shook with the effort of keeping it balanced. A few seconds later, his left hand slipped and the bottle tilted, splashing water over his open mouth and down his nostrils. Raleigh sputtered, abruptly turning to lie on his stomach and coughing over the edge of the bed. Chuck half-stood, unsure of what to do.

"Damn it, Chuck!" Raleigh didn't sound annoyed; he sounded amused, actually, but his words were still loud and accusing. "What kind--" _Hic!_ "--of idea was that?"

Chuck put up his hands defensively. "Hey, you're the one with terrible hand-eye coordination."

Raleigh snorted, the coughed some more as a bit of leftover water found its way into his windpipe. "Well--" _Hic!_ "--what's your next brilliant idea?" he asked, sitting up and swinging his legs over the side of the bed.

"Uh ... well ... you could just hold your breath," Chuck suggested. "That's the way most people do it."

Raleigh stared at Chuck incredulously. "What?" he sputtered. "And you didn't bother to suggest this first?" He paused, seeming like was about to continue with an angry retort or demand an apology. Instead, he just shook his head. "Okay, for how long?"

"Ten seconds, I think."

"Ten seconds it is, then." Raleigh cleared his throat, made a show of adjusting himself, then took a deep breath and puffed out his cheeks.

One ... two ... three ...

 _Pffff._ Raleigh let out a gust of air, laughing. "Okay, I can't--" _Hic!_

Chuck gave him a look. "You're in your late twenties. You know how to hold your own bloody breath."

Raleigh waved his hand. "All right, all right. Just give me a second." He looked down, as if mentally preparing himself (for what, Chuck didn't know; it wasn't like holding your breath caused you extensive mental strain). A few moments passed, then he took another deep breath and puffed out his cheeks. Chuck found it rather funny; he looked a bit like a chipmunk like that.

Five seconds in, Raleigh sputtered and began to laugh. _Hic!_ "I ... can't ..."

Chuck was slightly ticked off at this point; it had been at least ten minutes and still they hadn't found a solution to Raleigh's hiccups. He had work to do, and he wasn't going to spend hours discussing hiccup cures with Raleigh. A new idea sprang up in his mind, but he pushed it away. Then stopped, pulled it back, and thought about it for a while. After a heartbeat, Chuck decided to just fuck it all. Throwing away all caution, he grabbed Raleigh by the front of his shirt, yanked him closer, and kissed him.

The older pilot seemed startled for a moment, muscles tensing at Chuck's touch. Chuck had expected him to pull away, make a noise of disgust, or maybe jokingly push him away and laugh it off as if it were no big deal. And, of course, Chuck was prepared for this; his face was red and he thought he was making a fool of himself. But for some reason, somehow, he felt Raleigh's lips open invitingly, a hand come around to the back of his head and pull him _closer_. A lightning bolt of emotion shot down his spine and rattled his bones.

And then suddenly Chuck was _hungry_ , wanting more, wanting _all_ of it. He pressed closer, taking Raleigh's face into his hands and almost aggressively kissing back. Heat pulsed through his body. He hadn't realized how much he needed Raleigh's touch until now. He needed -- he needed ... he _wanted_ Raleigh to kiss him, touch him, he didn't want Raleigh to leave him alone, oh, no, not anymore. Chuck dug his fingers through Raleigh's hair, breath growing heavy. And through all of this, Raleigh still held Chuck by the shoulders and kissed him back almost as passionately -- if not more. The air was sparked with a barely suppressed tension that both of them could feel. Both of them could feel -- and took advantage of. And then Raleigh pulled back a gasp and Chuck's eyes flew open and he jerked back and stared at the other pilot in astonishment.

Chuck opened his mouth to say something (he had no idea what, but he had to say _something_ ), but all that came out was a high-pitched _Hic!_ and that all-too-familiar tugging sensation at his windpipe.

Raleigh looked surprised for a second, then his face melted into an amused smile. "Heh," he said. "Guess that means we need to make out some more."

And then Raleigh grabbed Chuck's sleeve, yanked him closer, and kissed him so hard that it left him breathless.

It left him hiccup-less, too, of course. But that's beside the point.


End file.
